First refugees from Greece arrive in Switzerland

Switzerland welcomes the first 28 refugees from Greece, as part of the EU programme to resettle refugees across nations party to the EU agreement on refugees, known as the Dublin Regulation. According to Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), they were moved from Greece to Switzerland late last week.

112 asylum seekers from Italy are already in Switzerland. The first 10 arrived in May. Refugee arrivals from Greece have mainly been delayed by registration centres. Well functioning registration centres are one of the requirements of the EU’s refugee redistribution agreement. These centres were established faster in Italy than in Greece.

All refugees taken by Switzerland must follow a strict asylum request procedures. Chances these arrivals will be accepted is high. Their distribution around Switzerland will follow the regular process.

Under the refugee agreement, Switzerland has committed to taking 1,500 refugees.

Today SEM announced the opening of Feldreben, a new refugee centre in Muttenz, near Basel, on 14 November 2016. The centre has 500 extra beds and will serve as a first stop for asylum seekers, who will stay there for a maximum of two years. In an emergency the centre could raise its accommodation capacity to 900 places.

While the number of asylum demands registered this year is below the number in 2015, the authorities want to be prepared. The temporary federal facility in Muttenz brings total asylum seeker accommodation capacity to 4,900.